Good Friday : Seven Words from the Cross (L/18)
Biblical anecdote: Hagar at Beer-Sheba versus Mary at Calvary: “Let me not watch to see the child die,” (Genesis 21:16) lamented Hagar, after putting her child Ishmael, son of Abraham, down under a shrub, and then going and sitting down opposite him, about a bowshot away. Hagar was the slave and maid-servant of Abraham, voluntarily given to him as his substitute wife by his legal wife Sarah, who had proved barren. But later when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, Sarah became jealous of Hagar and her son; Sarah insisted that Hagar and her son should be cast out. Early the next morning, Abraham got some bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. Then, placing the child on her back, he sent her away. “As she roamed aimlessly in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba, the water in the skin was used up,” (Gen. 21:14-15) and Ishmael was about to die of dehydration in the scorching heat of the sun. It was then that the broken-hearted mother Hagar prayed to God, lamenting that she could not watch her son dying of thirst in the hot desert. The book of Genesis tells us how God intervened and saved Hagar and her son. Centuries later at Calvary, we see another mother – Mary – remaining at the foot of the cross of her son Jesus, determined to keep watch with him as he died for the sins of mankind and to hear his last sermon of seven words from the cross. We too are invited today to hear what she heard and to see how her son died as our Savior. Let us repeat what Peter said at the mountain of Transfiguration: “Lord, it is good that we are here.”
Introduction: There were three crosses on Golgotha. On the right and on the left were two robbers being crucified for rebellion and murder. On the central cross, Jesus died for our sin. On one side of Jesus hung a criminal who taunted Jesus in disbelief; he died in sin. On the other side of Jesus, however, hung a criminal who believed in Jesus. He scolded the mocker and begged, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” He died to sin and, Jesus promised would be with him in Paradise that very day. On the central cross (with its mocking title, “Jesus the Nazarene king of the Jews,” in three languages) hung a sinless Sufferer! He was dying for the sins of the world. Hanging on that cross, Jesus spoke seven times during the closing moments of his earthly life. It has been an age-old practice in the Church to reflect on these last words of Jesus from the cross as an integral part of Good Friday observance so that we may repent of our sins and resolve to renew our lives and thus participate fully in the joy of Jesus’ Resurrection.
The word of Forgiveness: “Then said Jesus, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’” (Luke 23:34). While the crucified convicts would shriek and curse and spit at the spectators, Jesus, innocent of any crime against God or humanity, betrayed, arrested, scourged and condemned, did not. Now, from the cross, Jesus’ thoughts reached above his pain and rejection. Instead of being consumed with his own pain and misery, Jesus asked forgiveness for those responsible for the evil done to him – and by extension, for all who ignorantly go the way of sin and death. Jesus prayed for those who condemned Him, mocked at Him and nailed Him to the Cross – and for those who from all the nations and down through the years would crucify him by their sins.
Jesus is practicing what He preached – unconditional, forgiving love. One day Jesus preached on the mountain, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that spitefully use you and persecute you” (Mt 5:44). Jesus reminded Peter that there should not be any limit to forgiveness. He sadly addressed Judas, leading the soldiers to arrest him, as friend. It is this model which the first Martyr Stephen followed (Acts 7:60). Archbishop Oscar Romero, the outspoken champion of the oppressed, said the same first word of Jesus from the cross, as he was shot dead at the altar. St. Cyprian gave gold coins as his farewell gift to his executioner, and St. Thomas More hugged and kissed his executioner. It was Christ’s unconditional forgiveness, with the darkness at noon, the earthquake, and which prompted the centurion in charge of Jesus’ crucifixion to proclaim, “Truly he was the Son of God.”